The Messenger
by shan14
Summary: She had a message, and it was going to reach him one way or another
1. Chapter 1

A/N Another City Homicide story. My first attempt at Matt/Jen fluff :P the fluff is choke worthy later on...i wanr you now :P

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

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Matt Ran walked slowly down the carpeted corridors of the Homicide squads head quarters. His head, light brown hair falling between his eyes, was cast downwards, keeping his gaze focused on the patterned floor and the muffled thud heard when ever his feet hit the ground.

His mind was centred far from his footsteps, balanced somewhere between a yesterday long since jumbled in the past where a woman sang softly in the kitchen, tossing a salad lightly while muttering about the lack of dressing and a yesterday not so long ago where a blonde haired woman had invaded his mind quite literally, and hadn't left it since.

Without warning he found himself at his desk, sighing in annoyance as he realised his mind was still far from his job though he'd have to reel it back in and get to work. He collapsed unceremoniously into the springy material of his desk chair, letting it swivel to the side slowly as it adjusted to the sudden weight of a human being. The thick material of his suit jacket tugged slightly at his back so he shrugged it off, flinging it over his shoulder with a light, muffled thump. He looked around at the empty desks surrounding him, wondering briefly why he had come to work on such a quiet day. The hushed sound of stifled footsteps echoed through the building as someone walked down the hall and into the elevator, the scrap of the metal doors ringing loudly before the office was plunged into silence once more.

'Of course no one is here' he thought unexpectedly, realising for the first time that he had no case to work on, no pressing matter that need fixing or solving, no one to save or help.

He laughed weakly, rocking back in his squeaky chair to run a hand through his unruly brown hair.

Duncan would be with Clare, enjoying another free weekend together while they could, Simon was probably trying to recover from the night before and Jen, well, he didn't know where she would be. Suddenly he realised that he didn't know very much about her at all, only that she had been on his mind for the past few weeks and he didn't know how to get her out. She'd gotten herself to a place that no one had ever been before and it was beginning to scare the hell out of him. He'd promised himself no one at work would know about his mother, yet he hadn't hesitated in telling her about the disappearance, or his birthday for that matter. Every rule that he applied to himself seemed to dissolve when ever she was around, and that was quite a frightening thing for a man who had vowed away from women indefinitely.

'Oh god' he realised with a harsh intake of breath 'I'm falling in love with Jennifer'. He screwed his eyes tightly, trying to rid himself of the thought. Well, maybe love was a bit over dramatic, but he'd never felt this way about someone before and he was quite sure that if he didn't put an end to it, it could turn into that very four lettered word.

He glanced over at her desk quickly, images of her smiling at him while they sifted through mountains of paperwork, drifting through his mind before he slammed his hand up against his forehead and shook his head hastily, trying to rid himself of those thoughts.

'You can't do this' he reminded himself, singing the mantra over and over. 'You promised yourself, no more women for a while, you promised work would be the most important thing' he continued, humming along while desperately trying to reverse the track his heart was taking.

"Why me" he murmured, collapsing once more in his chair before laying his head in his hands, unknowingly pushing a pile of forms onto the floor beside him. He looked at the papers, trying to extract some meaning from their smooth, white texture before leaning back once more with a sigh.

"You're doomed mate" he told himself with a nervous laugh "Only you could manage to fall for someone at work" he nodded along, mentally kicking himself for allowing such a thing to take hold.

His phone let out a shrill beep, causing him to jump in surprise before he lounged on the offending piece of technology. He glanced down at it once before flicking it to the side, not in the mood for conversation with the whirlwind of thoughts parading through his mind. On an after thought he looked back down again, noticing the black text standing out against the neon green background.

'1 new message' it read, and underneath 'Jennifer'

His heart skipped a beat as he grabbed for the phone once more, flicking it open before punching at the buttons with force, racking his brain for any reason as to why she would have left him a message. It's probably work he realised with force, stopping for a second to glance around the silent office; surely he would know by now if there was a new case. Then again, maybe that was why she was texting in the first place. He glanced back down again, weighing the possibilities before resuming his attack on the phone, deciding that the chance of her calling for social reasons was just as high as the other and desperately hoping it was for that reason at which she had left a message.

"Finally" he murmured with a sigh, watching the message appear before his eyes.

'Check your desk' read the cryptic message, confusing the poor man on the receiving side to no end. He glanced up at his desk before starting a raid on the furniture, digging through files and pens and folders and papers before finally settling on an unfamiliar note stuck ceremoniously to the front of yesterday's paperwork.

_Good morning Birthday__ Boy_

_I'm sitting outside the office now (with coffee)_

_And if you don't come out within the next five minutes I will have to drag you out myself_

_Today is not the day to be at work!_

_And you know it_

_Plus, the rest of your present is with me and I don't want to bring it upstairs. _

_Jen_

His heart was beating madly against his chest as a silly grin spread across his face. Pushing his desk back to some sense of order before placing the note softly a top the pile, he grabbed at his jacket and spun out of his desk chair, not noticing the offending squeak that would have usually annoyed him.

As he walked happily towards the elevator, mind at full speed to analyse the message, he realised that he hadn't celebrated his birthday in 16 years. With a small smile he watched the metal doors screech open before jumping inside, punching at the ground floor button while whistling happy birthday to himself.

"Maybe I won't fight it" he muttered as the elevator came to a holt and slide open. He spotted Jen's car across the road and the familiar smiling figure sitting inside "After all, it is my birthday"


	2. Chapter 2

"So, where's my present?" asked a grinning Matt Ryan, leaning threw the passenger side window of the car parked out front the Homicide Building and startling the woman across from him who was intent on staring at the phone in her lap.

"Geez Matt" murmured Jen in surprise, jumping momentarily as his warm voice invaded her thoughts and shocked her into reality. If she was to be honest with herself, which was becoming increasingly hard with Matt by her side, she would have had to admit that her thoughts had been centred around him long before she drove out to her current position; but as she was not willing to let her mind wonder that far she contented herself with calling up a look of anger, and directing it straight towards the man currently grinning in front of her.

"What?" he asked defensively, watching Jen's face stare at him with mock anger.

"Don't scare me like that again" she accused, desperately trying to hide her smirk, before leaning over the passenger side and opening the door, gesturing for him to get in, while he laughed incredulously at her outburst.

"You okay Jen?" he asked mockingly as he slid in next to her, matching her smile with a full blown grin oh delightedness. "Seem a little wound up?"

"Shut up Matt or you won't get your present" was all she could muster in response, kicking the car into action so she had an excuse to keep her eyes on the road ahead, not on the man seated next to her. She had realised earlier on in the week that if she stared at him long enough she got lost in a world that it was becoming increasingly harder to break away from, and the last thing she felt like was explaining why the car had ended up in a tree because she hadn't been able to keep watch of the traffic around her. She didn't really understand what was so fascinating about him anyway. He wasn't the most handsome guy she had ever seen, something of which had been raised by people before, yet he had warmth, a sense of happiness and joy surrounding him that Jennifer was quickly becoming addicted to, something which was making life at the Homicide Squad increasingly difficult. She allowed herself a quick glance in his direction, watching the laid back position he had adopted, arms spread out across his legs, fingers tapping away at his knees in time with the music. His eyes were lite up like a kid at Christmas, dancing against the sunlight of the bright morning while seeming to project their own light, an enthusiasm which was solely Matt. She'd seen this eagerness in him only once before, over the last few days when his whole being had been trained on finding the truth and the truth only. Yet, that had been almost a compulsion, and had left him tired and defeated, this light was making him more kid like by the second and the grin he was trying unsuccessfully to hide was only helping his case along.

"Thought you said the present was in the car, or where you just playing with me?" he asked suddenly, head spinning towards her at lightning speed and momentarily stunning her. She shifted her gaze towards him and smiled, happy that he had fallen to her bait. "Not exactly, you needed to be in the car to get to the present" she conceded, watching his face contort in confusion as he analysed this new information.

"Taking me on Holidays are you?" he asked with a grin and Jen found herself feeling sorry for any adult that had had to answer to that face when he was a child. There was something, again she found herself coming back to the word childlike, about his behaviour today. As I he'd lost half of it as a youngster and was now finally allowing himself to live it out, cheeky grins and all.

"You wish" she murmured in response to his earlier guess, choosing to ignore the tightening in her chest at what the thought of a holiday with him might entail.

Meanwhile across from her, matt was having the exact same thought whiz through his mind before eh squeezed it out, trying not to wreck the morning while he didn't know where they stood. He felt so, well alive was all that came to mind, almost like he was on something and he had no intention of coming down yet. He knew later on that night he would crash, probably quite hard, and the weight that the day brought would seep into his consciousness slowly throughout the afternoon, but right now, being on cloud nine was all he could think about, and he had no intention or returning soon. Especially not with the promise of the day spent with his favourite blonde detective.

Finally the car pulled up in a busy car park, brightly coloured children and parents running in frenzy around them. Matt was tempted to ask where exactly they were but before the words could leave his mouth hie eyes answered for him, laying themselves upon the giant, rainbow tarpaulin that could only mean one thing.

"I can't believe" he murmured, feeling his jaw hit his lap before he turned wide eyed to stare at Jen in amazement "Are you serious?" he asked, grinning like a mad man.

"Yep" nodded Jen in response, hardly able to control her own laughter at the sight of pure happiness and youthful excitement that was playing across Matt's face.

"The circus" he breathed out slowly, as if saying the words any louder might shatter the illusion forever.

As suddenly as he had been stunned he jumped out of the car door, running around the other side to open the door for his partner, his wonderful amazing partner who had brought him o the circus!

Not caring who saw them or what rules he was breaking he grabbed onto her hand tightly, squeezing it in a silent thanks.

"You ready?" she smiled up at him, squeezing his hand tight with in her own small one.

"Yep" he smiled back at her before turning back to marvel at the site. And with that they made there way to the front gates, ready for a day of circus filled fun and adventure.


	3. Chapter 3

"When was the last time you went to the Circus?" he asked her casually, watching a stray drop of vanilla ice cream roll unceremoniously down the crease where her hand was curled around the waffle cone. His gaze slowly drifted up to her mouth, red lips parted slightly to catch the cold treat they had picked up on their way out of the main arena tent.

"Don't know" admitted Jen with a smile, shifting slightly under his intense gaze "I can't remember much though, only the Ferris wheel and the feeling that I was going to fall out" she laughed quietly, eyes darting up to glance at Matt for a second before they resumed their gaze across the crowds. The pair had been lucky enough to find a park bench across from the busy crowds of people stuffed in and out of rides, stalls and tents and where now enjoying the leaf filtered, midday sunlight as the clock ticked over to one o'clock.

"Come on" called Matt after finishing his ice cream, grabbing onto Jen's hand tightly and pulling her up and off the bench without warning.

"Hey!" she called in surprise, the last, crumbling pieces of the waffle cone barely making it to her mouth before she was dragged across the road towards the rides by a very persistent Matt.

"Slow down would you" she called as they met the busy crowds, causing Matt to all but stop so that he wouldn't get separated from his partner. He turned back to look at Jen, sending her smile as she looked at him with her cute, befuddled glare that he'd come to love over the past few months. The way her head fell to the side as her brow crinkled in confusion or her mouth pursed in concentration made up the formula of his day now, and he loved watching her contemplate a new problem or idea when ever they had a case.

"What?" the sound of her voice broke into his thoughts suddenly, the mixture of expectation and amusement bringing him back to the present day and the drone of the man by the Ferris wheel.

"We going up?" he asked her in return, ignoring her own enquiry to point towards the metal contraption. Her hand recoiled from his suddenly he had the fleeting thought that maybe her fear of Ferris wheels was an actual thing. "Not scared are you?" he teased affectionately, with just the right amount of understanding and compassion to backtrack if she was. "Of course not" was the quick reply as she brushed past him, headed straight towards the man with the tickets while Matt followed after her, grinning like an idiot while once more searching out her hand. He squeezed it tightly as they climbed into the small metal booth, both pausing briefly to negotiate seating arrangements.

"I'll just sit here" laughed Jen nervously, eyeing Matt's calm ace as he sat down opposite her, still unconsciously holding her hand and playing with the ring on her right hand.

"My Grandfather gave me that when I graduated" she smiled softly, bringing her hand up to rest upon Matt's larger one for a moment "He seemed to be genuinely proud of me, unlike my mother" she confided a moment later, her tone of voice indicating that it was a story she told rarely.

"He sounds like a nice bloke" smiled Matt in return, leaning back against the metal railing to give Jen a little space. The Ferris wheel was slowly creeping higher and higher into the sky, spreading the city across from them out like a blanket.

"Reckon we'll be able to see the office?" asked Matt as he shifted towards the glass window, searching the buildings for the familiar Homicide one. He heard Jen laugh quietly behind him and turned towards her with a smile, silently asking her what on earth she was laughing about.

"We're not that high up Matt" she explained softly, her voice losing some of its teasing edge as her eyes shifted to the ground.

"Hey" called Matt, suddenly aware that his happy partner of before was now not so enthusiastic "You okay Jen?" he asked, leaning back across the booth to catch her eye.

"Yeah Matt, I'm good" she nodded, perking back up as she realised her demeanour was affecting him as well. 'This is Matt's day' she told her self quietly and sent him a happy smile in confirmation.

"So, what gave you the idea of bringing me here anyway?" he asked, quickly making the change of conversation to lighten the heavy silence that had blanketed the pair.

Jen's face immediately lit up, happy to be talking about her stroke of genius plan while Matt settled himself back against the metal railing's once more, happy to lose himself in the delight on Jen's face.

"I saw the picture on your mantle piece, of you and your parents at the circus when you were little" she answered, watching Matt's eyes respond in recognition as a lazy smile spread across his face at the memory. "So, when I was trying to think up a birthday present, I thought I'd take you back in time instead"

"Thankyou" he murmured in response, suddenly avoiding her gaze as the floor became interesting "No one has ever put that much thought into my Birthday before" he admitted softly.

"I'm sure they have Matt" scoffed Jen lightly, but the look on his face had already informed her that this was the first Birthday he had celebrated in 16 years. Ignoring the squeak that would have usually unsettled her she leant across and aid a hand on Matt's knee silently, squeezing her hand into his as it came to rest a top hers.

"Today was a good day" smiled Matt happily, wishing he could day and do more to show just how much he appreciated what Jen had done for him. Just how much he loved her and everything about her.

"It was, wasn't it" she laughed in return, happy that the light had returned to Matt's eyes.

"Where to now?" she asked, hoping that this would not mean the end of the day. Though didn't the Ferris wheel ride always signal the end of the day? The cynical part of her mind asked.

"Well, I've been feeling like a nice dinner all day, you want to join me for it?" asked Matt suddenly, shocking both adults and causing them to look at each other in surprise.

"Sure, I'd love that" laughed Jen in reply, secretly glad that the day would not be cut sort anytime soon. Matt's face lit up, quit like it had done earlier, as he grinned at Jen in return. "Good, I'll pick you up around, say 7?" he asked her, nodding along with his own words as if he were dreaming them. Was he seriously asking Jennifer out?

"7 sounds great" nodded Jen in agreement, not quite sure if her head was working in conjunction with her mouth but not caring either way. The pair smiled once more at each other before Matt made the bold move and slid over next to her, resting his hand with her won before griping it tightly. Her heart beating widely, Jen allowed her body to mould against the side of his before, very slowly; she lowered her head down to rest against the warm shoulder of his Jacket. She felt Matt's breathing quicken slightly before they both relaxed, Matt's arm slowly wrapping its way around her figure and pulling her close, watching the world glide past as the Ferris Wheel made it's last loop.


End file.
